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Paediatric Oncology pp 1–10Cite as

Epidemiology of Paediatric Cancer

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Part of the book series: Recent Results in Cancer Research ((RECENTCANCER,volume 88))

Abstract

Epidemiology can be defined as the study of the health of human communities. In looking at paediatric cancer from an epidemiological viewpoint it is important to consider its relationship to other diseases which may influence the incidence of all or some types of cancer in childhood; studying the patterns of disease within individual families may lead to discoveries of aetiological significance. In England and Wales cancer is now the most common natural cause of death in childhood and is exceeded only by accidents (Office of Population Censuses and Surveys 1978). This pattern, which is common to most developed countries, emerged in the period immediately following the Second World War. With improvements in health care and better social conditions infections, which had hitherto been the major cause of childhood death, rapidly became of less importance.

The Manchester Children’s Tumour Registry is supported by Cancer Research Campaign

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Social Research, Children’s Tumor Registry, Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute, Withington, Manchester, M20 9BX, UK

    J. M. Birch

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  1. J. M. Birch
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Oncology, Western General Hospital, Grewe Road, EH4 2XU, Edinburgh, UK

    William Duncan

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© 1983 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Birch, J.M. (1983). Epidemiology of Paediatric Cancer. In: Duncan, W. (eds) Paediatric Oncology. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 88. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82034-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82034-2_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-82036-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-82034-2

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